Annealing furnace



c. A. ROSS.

ANNEALING FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.3I. 1919.

1,409,584. Patented Mar. 14,1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

c. A. R0ss. ANNEALING FURNACE.

CATION FIL APPLI I 1919- Y 1 ,4=O9,584. Patented Mar. 14, 1922.

SHEETS-SHEET 2.

CHARLES A. ROSS, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

ANNEALING FURNACE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 14, 1922.

Application filed January 31, 1919. Serial No. 274,176.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES A. Boss, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Detroit, in the county of Vayne and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Annealing Furnaces, of which the following s a specification, reference being, had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to anneallng ovens, and has special reference to a carrier or conveyor for shifting pieces of work, stock or material into and out of an annealing oven and the principle embodied in this invention is also applicable to kilns, furnaces and other structures adapted to be loaded and unloaded.

Mv invention aims to provide an endless shiftable conveyor for moving stock carriers into and out of an annealing oven, the endless conveyor being of such length,'relat1ve to the oven, that while a carrier is 1n the oven for heat treatment of stock thereon, other carriers may be loaded and unloaded, thus permitting of stock being expedltiously and economically handled and heat treated.

My invention further aims to furnish annealing ovens with stock conveyors and carriers that will safely withstand the heat to which they are subjected, and the parts of the conveyor and. carrier are constructed with a view to reducing the cost of manufacture, and at the same time retain those features by which durability, ease of assembling and installation are secured. With such ends in view, my invention resides in the mechanical construction to be hereinafter referred to and then pointed out in the appended claims.

Reference will now be had to the draw- 1119;, wherein-- Figure 1 is a horizontal sectional view of a conventional form of annealing oven or furnace equipped with conveyors and carriers in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the same;

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken on the line IIIIII of Fig. 2, and

Figs. 4 and 5 are detail views showing connections between the conveyors and the stock carriers.

In describing my invention by aid of the views above referred to, I desire to point out that the same are intended as merely illustrative of an example by which my invention may be putinto practice, and I do not care to confine myself to the precise construction and arrangement of parts shown, other than defined by the appended claims.

In the drawings, the reference numeral 1 denotes a conventional form oven having the ends thereof provided with doorways 2, and extending longitudinally of the oven and out of the doorways 2 are beds 3, which are preferably three times the length of the oven'l so that the protruding ends of said bed may constitute loading and unloading platforms on which stock may cool prior to being unloaded or on which stock may be placed ready for heat treatment within the oven. The upper and lower faces of the beds 3 are provided with central longitudinal conveyor ways or grooves 4 extending throughout the length of said beds, and adapted to move in these ways or grooves are endless chain or flexible members 5, constituting conveyors that may be shifted in either direction to move stock into and out of the oven 1.

At one end of each of the beds 3 are sets of bearings 6 for revoluble sheaves or pulleys 7 over which the chains or flexible members 5 are trained, said bearings being made adjustable, as shown in Fig. 2, in order that the chains or flexible members may be maintained taut;

At the opposite ends of the beds'3 are sets of bearings 8 for shafts 9 and loose on said shafts, but adapted to rotate therewith, are sheaves or pulleys 10 over which the chains or flexible members 5 are trained and adapted to have movement imparted thereto from theshafts 9. The sheaves or pulleys 10 have clutch members associated with similar members 11 slidably keyed on the shaft 9 and adapted to rotate therewith, said clutch members being of the ordinary and well known type capable of being operated to establish a driving relation between the shafts 9 and the sheaves 10, and it is through the medium of these clutch members that the conveyors can be operated at will and independently of each other.

Mounted on the shafts 9 are large gear wheels 12 meshing with small gear wheels 13 on a shaft 14 journaled in the bearings 8 and common to the operating mechanism of each conveyor. One end of the shaft 14 extends into a transmission casing 15 and has a large worm wheel 16 meshing with a Worm 17 coupled to a motor 18 representing of annealing a suitable source of power for operating the conveyors in a desired direction, said motor being of the reversible type.

The chains or flexible members, 5 include links 19 adapted for holding or receiving gripping members 20, which may bein the form of hooks, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. These hooks or gripping devices may be suitably spaced throughout the length of the conveyor and are adapted to be connected to bails or end members 21 of stock carriers 22, which may be made of sheet metal or a non-fusible material with said carriers disposed to slide on the beds 3 and carry stock or material into and out of the oven 1. The carriers may be of any'desired form designed for holding various kinds of material, and in practice the following or similar operations may take place.

With one of the carriers in the oven 1, other carriers may be on the ends of the beds 3 so that stock may cool and be removed and other stock for heat treatment, placed on one of the carriers. This will save con- I sider-able timein the heat treating of stock,

andby starting the motor 18 in a desired direction and throwing in the proper clutch, the stock which has been treated may be shiftedout of the'oven and a loaded carrier shifted therein. lVith the beds 3 of considerable length and accommodating a plurality of the carriers, it is possible'to at all times have a carrier in the oven while others are being loaded and unloaded.

With the gripping devices detachable, it is possible to transfer the same to difierent parts of the conveyor so as to articulate the carriers at desired points, and with a battery of ovens, it is possible to have a common source of power for all the operating mechanisms or devices of the conveyor, it

simply being a question of constructing the shaft 14 as a line shaft.

hat I claim is r 1 The combination with an annealing oven, a bed therein having its end protruding from said oven and providing loading and unloading platforms, an endless conveyor disposed longitudinally of said bed, flat and pan like carriers on said bed approximately the width of said'bed and proportioned relative to the length of said oven and each other so that a carrier is at all times in said oven and another carrier on a platform, bails attached to said carriers and adapted to be connected to said conveyor, and operating means adapted to impart movement to said conveyor in either direction so that carriers may be shifted into and out of said oven.

2. The combination of an annealing oven, a bed disposed longitudinally thereof and protruding from the ends of said ovenin the same horizontal plane as the bed within the oven so as to provide loading and unloading platforms, a conveyor arranged longitudinally of said bed, flat and pan like carriers on said bed with said carriers proportioned relative to said oven and to each other so that one carrier is on a platform while another carrier is in the oven, bails at theends of said carriers adapted to be eon- V nected. to said conveyor, and means at one end of said bed and adapted for moving said conveyor so as to shift the carriers into and out of said oven.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

, e CHARLES A. ROSS. Witnesses: V

ANNA M. Done, 7 KARL BUTLER. 

